Nichs raised his arm and ced it on my shoulder, pulling me toward him as if dering his authority over me. The more I struggled, the tighter he held me.


    Suddenly, a leg inserted itself between him and me, forcing him to let go.


    Neal quickly retracted his leg, and in that sudden outburst, his entire demeanor changed. He seemed even colder than before, but the vibe he gave out was different from Nichs. One was the oppressive aura of a long-time leader, while the other exerted brutality and bloodthirstiness.


    Neal reached out to undo his uniform, neatly taking it off and cing it aside. "With the uniform on, I''m a police officer who serves the people. Without it, I''ll beat you into a pulpl"


    With those words, heunched an attack, and Nichs pushed me aside. The fight between them was on apletely different level from the previous one with Pete. I had no chance to intervene at all. Pete only looked up after finishing his haircut. Seizing the opportunity, he quickly ran forward and punched Nichs in the side of his face.


    Nichs could have held his own against Neal, but with Pete joining the fray, he quickly fell into a disadvantage.


    The men seemed to have lost their minds, and no matter how much I shouted, I couldn''t get them to stop. No one listened to me.


    It wasn''t until Neal''s team members heard the noise and rushed in that they were finally separated. All three of them showed signs of injury.


    "Do you think I''m afraid of you?"


    Neal became even more arrogant with his team members present, which waspletely different from his usual soft-spoken self when talking to me.


    "Neal," I called out softly, shaking my head at him. With an ordinary family background, he had no way to match Nichs.


    From the moment I called his name, the fiery aura around him seemed to extinguish instantly. Nichs wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, and upon seeing the bloodstains, heughed. "Captain Steele, right? I hope you can hold onto your position as themander of the Criminal Investigation Division for a long time."


    "Nichs, don''t drag innocent people into this!"


    "I see that you''re quite capable now, Ariana." Nichs sneered through gritted teeth as if he had heard something utterly ridiculous.


    Before he could react, Pete got angry and red at me with a gaze cold enough to freeze me. His jaw was clenched tightly, and he looked like a wolf that was ready to pounce.


    "Ms. Ari, what''s your rtionship with him?" His dark eyes no longer showed the concern from before, and


    he enunciated each word clearly, "Why didn''t you protect me?"


    I looked up at him and replied, "You can protect yourself."


    Since childhood, Pete had never needed my protection Besides, no matter how angry Nichs was at Pete, he wouldn''t really do anything to Pete considering the rtionship between the two families and the fact that they were friends. However, Neal was different.


    I carefully chose my words and exined, "Neal has helped me a lot. If he hadn''t gathered evidence tirelessly for me, I wouldn''t have been able to clear my hame so quickly."


    After speaking. I looked up at Nichs. He stood there silently, staring at me intently. When he spoke, his slightly hoarse voice carried a hint of mockery.


    "Don''t jump to conclusions so soon. The truth and thew will ultimately decide whether you''re really


    innocent."


    His words, though seeming to not bear weight at all, extinguished thest bit of hope in my heart. I never expected him to apologize to me, but I thought he would at least feel some degree of remorse,


    He had been so certain that I hired someone to attack udia, causing me to be wronged and aggrieved without reason. Yet, in his heart, none of that mattered. He only believed in his beloved stepsister. During this time, Pete remained silent. His expression was indifferent and cold as he looked at me for a long time. The entire room fell silent, and heughed loudly, his tone self-mocking. "Alright, got it," he said.


    Then, he turned to leave. When passing by Nichs, he stopped and patted his shoulder.


    "Nick, don''t take today''s incident to heart. Don''t let a womane between us. I''ll treat you to a drink another day."


    With that, Pete walked out, habitually raising his hand to fix his hair. His hand paused abruptly as he only felt his prickly short hair. Heughed again, lowered his hand, and swaggered out.


    I looked at Pete''s slightly resentful back with a mix of emotions. He was probably upset. As his figure swayed in the sunset light, his shadow blurred and distorted until it gradually faded away.


    I was grateful to him, but I wasn''t good at expressing it in words. If I invited him for a meal someday, I wondered if he woulde.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org.


    Neal gently nudged me with his elbow, bringing me back to reality. "Come on, I''ll take you out." Then, he put his uniform back on and led the way, keeping a distance from me.


    As we were about to leave, I turned back to Nichs and said, "Nichs, you''re right. Thew will give me an apology on your behalf. We shall see."


    Facing Nichs and the entire Hawk family, I wasn''t confident that I could ensure udia received the punishment she deserved, but I was determined not to let this matter go easily. I would seek justice for myself.